The proper management of data in the electronic world in which we live and do business is critical for many reasons.
For example, privacy is a major concern when it comes to an individual's or a company's data. Privacy is the claim of individuals, groups or institutions to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent information about them or in their possession is communicated to others. Private information is frequently made public or semi-public via emails, blogs and postings to social networking services, often without foresight as to the consequences of such a divulgence. Additionally, intentionally divulged information that is intended to be maintained as private is routinely sold to advertisers and information brokers. Moreover, with the proliferation of application (“app”) usage in mobile devices such as smartphones, additional information is available on the “information market,” including users' location, age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation and political views.
By way of another example, data that is generated on a mobile device, or otherwise stored thereon, and transmitted from the mobile device is susceptible to public divulgation. In the case of proprietary technical information, such divulgation may have intellectual property ramifications, e.g., loss of important trade secrets and/or valuable patent rights.
Thus, the ability to manage personal and/or business data is critical.